170,000 Say Cut Oil-Drilling Moratorium

More than 170, 000 citizens have signed a petition by Louisiana Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle asking President Obama to shorten the six-month moratorium on offshore drilling enacted after the devastating BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast.

In an op-ed posted in a local Louisiana newspaper, Angelle states that thousands of small businesses were created to support offshore oil and gas activity and more than 20,000 jobs are at risk each day the government-mandated moratorium lingers.

The petition is an effort of the Gulf Economic Survival Team (GEST), an organization that was created at the request of Gov. Bobby Jindal to fight the President’s moratorium.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D.-La.) has added her support to Angelle’s petition.

“The impacts we are suffering from the BP oil spill are bad enough; the moratorium will cause massive layoffs and cripple our economies like never seen before, and we will likely feel the impact for years. Please act quickly to institute offshore safeguards, reduce the drilling moratorium to 30 days, and get us working again to fuel this nation!” reads the petition.

Angelle’s office told HUMAN EVENTS that while they currently don’t have plans to present the petition to the White House, they haven’t ruled out the idea.